★★★★

“Sumptuous, hilarious, sparkling and completely over the top”

The most magical thing about watching Cinderella is that you know the story, the characters and the outcome. It is a universal story of adversity and justice, and the transformative powers of love and kindness. It has been performed, in various adaptations, possibly millions of times around the world. In Britain alone, it is one of the most frequently mounted pantomimes.

Yet, in the hands of a masterly production, you can still be enthralled. In fact, much of the enchantment comes from the fact you DO know what’s going on. So, in the audience, you become collaborator and co-creator, and in some weird way, know that the success of the evening is greatly down to you.

That’s enough theorising – Hackney Empire’s seasonal Cinderella, in the hands of writer Will Brenton and director Clive Rowe, delivers that masterly production. Sumptuous, hilarious, sparkling and completely over the top. Brenton and Rowe are masters. The credits in the programme are too long to even begin a selection, but think productions of The Addams Family and Chicago – Rowe has been involved in these and many more. With such credentials, the evening guaranteed brilliance.

For a start there was a proper band. Led by Wendy Gadian as musical director and arranger, the four musicians managed to sound like a complete orchestra. The music – a mix of classic Christmas and contemporary pop with original material and songs by Steven Edis – yielded sophisticated dance numbers, rousing choruses, some poignant solos and great audience involvement. At one point, a few songsters joined in from the stalls even before the invitation.

Then there was the villain – the wicked stepmother. Gloriously attired in costumes by designer Cleo Pettitt, and prowling about the stage to audience boos, Alexandra Waite-Roberts was, for me, the outstanding act. She is a musical performer of the highest calibre with huge on-stage charisma. Her song number ‘I am going to live till I die’ and a short Bob Fosse-style dance sequence (choreography by Michael Ward) were two of the show’s delights.

But then picking out any performer seems churlish. Kat B and George Heyworth as Flatula and Nausea (the Ugly Sisters) held the show together. Jade Johnson as the Fairy Godmother and Siobhan James as Cinderella were the charmers, while Nicholas McLean, as a cheeky Buttons hopelessly in love with Cinders, gave us a light touch of pathos – as well as being a belting singer.

It was a big ensemble, appropriate for the gorgeous Hackney Empire. Supporting the main cast and ensemble were 25 students from the Vestry School of Dance and Performing Arts. Every one was excellently integrated and a credit to the show.

The final must-mention was the on-stage spectacle delivered by a hugely talented creative, production and technical team with lighting by Tim Mitchell and sound by Richard Bell. The backdrops were all spun with glitter – we got a frost festival, a woodland glade, a castle on a mountain and Hardup Hall, home to Cinderella and her stepsisters. As the first act closes and the fairy godmother sends Cinders to the ball, the technics were all pulled out and a piece of completely awesome stage magic was performed to gasps by the audience. It would be quite wrong to spoil the moment. Go and see for yourself.

Do you need reminding of the story? Cinderella is a classic folk tale (French) of a virtuous working girl extremely down on her luck and being bullied. But her beauty and goodness have been noticed and there is a handsome prince loose in the district – Hackney in the Holly in this case – who is looking for a wife (and to be recognised for himself). So, Hey Presto! Magic brings the two together and all wrongs are righted. In the meantime we have all enjoyed nearly three hours of laughter, sung along to some great music, been awestruck, thrilled and thoroughly satisfied. What better way to open the Christmas season?

CABLE STREET at Southwark Playhouse Borough

★★★

“a good effort to remind the audience of the power of the people against malevolent political forces”

It’s not often that you get a musical written about your old street. As a previous resident of one of the roads leading off Cable Street, I’ve passed by the large mural commemorating the 1936 Battle of Cable Street numerous times without looking deeply into this symbol of mass resistance to fascism.

Now, in the model of Hamilton or Operation Mincemeat, writers Alex Kanefsky (book) and Tim Gilvin (music and lyrics) have pulled together a reflective show that uses song and dance to surface this lesser-known historic event. As in Hamilton, the music reflects a variety of cultures, with hip hop references layered on top of Jewish and Irish musical references. As in Operation Mincemeat, the fascists get arguably the best song.

For those who were not paying attention to their interwar British history, the Battle of Cable Street is so named after the road on which a patchwork army of Jewish, Irish, Socialist and Trade Union groups held back thousands of Oswald Moseley’s British Union of Fascists set on marching through what was then a predominantly Jewish area of East London. The musical interpretation uses the story of three families to explore just some of the hundreds of thousands in the motley coalition. The Battle of Cable Street has since become known as the day that fascism in Britain was defeated, and prevented it ever gaining a political hold on the country.

The show is framed by a modern day East End walking tour recounting this history, with an overbearing tourist from New York asking questions about her mother, once a local. This walking tour pops up in several scenes, either interrupting the events playing out in 1936, or contrasting with rival (and rather tasteless) Jack the Ripper tours that stomp the same cobbled streets.

If the stories of three families and two warring walking tours sounds like a few too many strands, you might be correct. At times the compact performance space of the Southwark Playhouse felt a little cramped; this worked well when presenting about the claustrophobic housing, and less so when trying to follow contrasting narratives. Actors playing instruments on stage to accompany the semi-concealed band also contributed to the cluttering of the space. Aoife Mac Namara’s fiddle made sense in the numbers with a gaelic undertone, but the electric guitar felt out of place.

The central playing space is surrounded on three sides by seating, with the back wall covered with haphazard wired and wooden fencing. On stage is a large bureau, two desks and chairs pushed against the back. These are regularly repositioned to create the different scenes, with the simplicity working well. On the whole, the set (Yoav Segal) and props were used effectively, except a very obviously homemade horse head used to represent a police cavalry came across as more Blue Peter than War Horse.

Of the 1936 events, Sha Dessi as Mairead Kenny, daughter of an Irish immigrant, drives the show forward with strong vocals and resolute determination. Dessi’s character has to balance fervent revolutionary zeal with a laundry list of responsibilities. She meets and falls for Sammy Scheinberg (Joshua Ginsberg), the rapping son of Jewish family living close who is struggling to find work. Similarly, Ron Williams (Danny Colligan) is a northerner from Lancashire who is also failing to find any work, but unlike Sammy who gets influenced by Mairead into coming along to communist meetings, Ron falls into the fascist embrace.

The ensemble cast was stuffed with talent, with supporting actors contending with multiple character changes. Debbie Chazen as the visiting New Yorker, Mairead’s Irish mother, and also a bumbling police officer was a standout, as was Jade Johnson whose solo Stranger / Sister was performed with sensitivity and power. Sophia Ragavelas who leads one of the strongest songs in the show – a rousing No Pasaran in the model of Les Miserables barricade scene – was also a highlight.

There are many things that work well with Cable Street, though ultimately it neither gets the high tension and deep emotion of Hamilton, or the tongue in cheek hilarity of Mincemeat. The ending is unsatisfactory – with a rush of events that threaten to derail the entire show and saved by the unveiling of a man who we already know isn’t dead. As a small point, the modern day East End is not well represented – there’s only one mention of the Bangladeshi community in passing (a 1978 murder) who have contributed so much to the area in the past 50 years.

Given the current political environment and rise of antisemitism across the UK, this is a good effort to remind the audience of the power of the people against malevolent political forces, featuring a strong selection of upbeat musical numbers. However, a little more restraint from director Adam Lenson, or a pruning of the dense narratives might have helped tell this important story a little better.

CINDERELLA

Hackney Empire

★★★★

“Sumptuous, hilarious, sparkling and completely over the top”

CINDERELLA

Hackney Empire

Reviewed on 4th December 2025

by Louise Sibley

Photography by Mark Senior

Previously reviewed at this venue:

Cinderella

Cinderella

Cinderella

CABLE STREET at Southwark Playhouse Borough

★★★

“a good effort to remind the audience of the power of the people against malevolent political forces”

CABLE STREET at Southwark Playhouse Borough

Reviewed on 26th February 2024

by Rosie Thomas

Photography by Jane Hobson

Previously reviewed at Southwark Playhouse venues:

CABLE STREET

CABLE STREET

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